1979/80: Shilton keeps Hamburg at bay
Wednesday, May 28, 1980
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A goal from John Robertson and a string of great saves from Peter Shilton saw Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest FC retain the European Champion Clubs' Cup, with Hamburger SV worsted in the final.
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Nottingham Forest FC 1-0 Hamburger SV
(Robertson 20)
Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid
Suffice to say the holders had the luck of the draw when Nottingham Forest FC retained their European crown in 1980. Forest's first three opponents were straight from the B-list of clubs: Östers IF, FC Arges-Dacia Pitesti and Dynamo Berlin. And only in the semi-finals did they face a fellow contender in AFC Ajax. The Dutch side had scored 30 goals in the competition yet could only manage one in reply to Forest's 2-0 first-leg win at the City Ground.
Elsewhere, top dog ate top dog: Liverpool FC fell to FC Dinamo Tbilisi who, in turn, were eliminated by Hamburger SV. Another first-round shock was FC Porto's defeat of Milan AC, which ended the Italian side's 20-year unbeaten home record in Europe. The Portuguese side then went out against Real Madrid CF who also accounted for Celtic FC in the quarter-finals. This left the Spanish team two games away from their first final in 14 years - one that just happened to be at their Santiago Bernabéu home.
That they never got there was down to a Hamburg side coached by Branko Zebec and featuring Manni Kaltz, Horst Hrubesch, Felix Magath and Mighty Mouse himself, Kevin Keegan. The German side bounced back from a 2-0 loss in the first leg to crush Madrid 5-1 at the Volksparkstadion. Hamburg were immediately installed as favourites. But Brian Clough did nothing by the book, let alone the bookmaker. His team likewise. John Robertson gave them a 19th-minute lead in the final; Peter Shilton saved everything including the kitchen sink; and Forest were continental champions for a second time.